Harold Pinter Archive

In Decenber 2007 the
British Library aquired the archive of Harold Pinter. Pinter had
previously placed the archive 'on permanent loan' in 1993. The archive
cosisted of
more than 150 boxes of manuscripts, scrapbooks
and emails.

Highlights of the
archive include an exceedingly
perceptive and enormously affectionate run of letters from Samuel
Beckett, letters and hand-written manuscripts revealing Pinter's close
collaboration with director Joseph Losey; a charming and highly amusing
exchange of letters with Philip Larkin; and a draft of Pinter's
unpublished autobiographical memoir of his youth, 'The Queen of all the
Fairies'.

This extensive collection of correspondence
encompasses the personal, professional and political aspects of the
legendary writer, whose career covered directing, acting,
screenwriting, poetry and journalism, as well as his original work for
the theatre. His key role in post-War theatre and film is documented
through his extensive correspondence with leading playwrights and
literary figures such as Simon Gray, David Hare , David Mamet, Arthur
Miller, John Osborne, and Tom Stoppard, as well as actors and directors
including Sir John Gielguid and Sir Peter Hall. In addition to high
profile correspondents, the archive documents all international
performances of Pinter's plays, as well as exchanges with academics that
highlight Pinter's engagement with the global scholarly community.

There is also extensive material relating to Pinter's commitment to
human rights, covering his journalism, poetry and direct action.
Especially touching are letters from Pinter's early friends in Hackney,
including his inspirational English teacher, Joe Brearley.

Together with material relating to the award of the Nobel
Prize, cuttings books, and photographs, these papers amount to one of
the most significant post-War literary archives of one of the greatest
Anglophone playwrights of the twentieth-century.

The Harold Pinter
Archive catalogue became available online on Tuesday 3 February 2009 (Add. 88880)

A podcast of Harold pinter in converstion with Harry Burton in September 2008 is available. Recorded at The Golden Generation Conference at the British
Library, it is one of the last public appearances by Harold prior to his death on 24th December 2008.